WOMEN'S RELAY QUALIFIES
FIRST SIX WOMEN NAMED TO TEAM

Karin Helmstaedt

With Curtis Myden's spot in the men's 400 IM sewn up, only one spot remained
to be had on the Olympic team. All eyes were on Owen Von Richter, who had
recovered from his difficulties of the day before to claim lane 4 for the
final. Casey Barrett of the Pacific Dolphins led after the fly leg but von
Richter took the lead in the backstroke. He held that lead for the rest
of the race but was unable to crack the FINA standard of 4:22.10, touching
in 4:23.94.

"Yesterday I felt like I was going to pass out, but I think I just
needed to get that first swim out of the way," he said afterward. "I'm
a little upset that I missed the team, but I think I've come a long way.
There are some more meets, and there is a long way to go. I'm not giving
up yet."

"I think this has been a big victory for him," added his coach
Cliff Barry. "The whole year has been such a fiasco."

Barrett finished second in 4:26.19.

In the women's 200 freestyle, Joanne Malar once again got in there to win.
Touching first at the 100 mark (59.2), she held off the rest of the field
by a full second and made the FINA standard, hitting the wall in 2:01.36.
Marianne Limpert, usually a factor in this race, looked strong for 125 metres
but had trouble on the last 75. A surprise second place finish went to Stephanie
Richardson of North York (2:02.36), while Sophie Simard of Laval (2:02.76)
and 15-year-old Jessica Deglau (2:03.05) were third and fourth respectively.
The happy scenario in this event was that the times of the first six women
were fast enough to make the combined qualifying time for Atlanta. In addition
to the first four, fifth place Marianne Limpert and sixth place Andrea Schwartz
of Regina qualified as alternates.

Men's freestyle did not get better as the meet went on and the 100 only
confirmed what the 200 had shown the night before: Canada's best are just
not good enough. After posting a 50.87 in the heats, Stephen Clarke was
upstaged by teammate Robert Braknis who won in 51.16, well off the COA standard
of 50.78. A disappointed Clarke finished second in 51.38, while Craig Hutchison
of Pointe Claire was third in 51.62. To qualify a relay for Atlanta the
top four men would have had to average a time of 50.51...an unfortunate
reality indeed.

The women's 100 backstroke was also disappointing with no Olympic qualifiers.
Having made the team in the freestyle relay the night before, Canadian record-holder
Julie Howard of Brantford had obviously lost a bit of her concentration.
She led the field by a hair and just managed to touch out Chris Natywary
of Etobicoke. Howard's 1:04.34 was well off her best and 2/100 of a second
off the COA standard. She will no doubt be better prepared for one of the
upcoming "second chance" meets in Phoenix, Vancouver, and Charlotte,
NC. Natywary finished second in 1:04.36.